Just Say Yes To Screening For Pot Use

Dear Editor,

Nevada became the first state preventing “discrimination” of yet another behavioral “minority.” Employers cannot screen applicants for marijuana.  They reason: 1) legalizing recreational marijuana use inferred protection, and 2) this will incentivize marijuana industry growth.  Recreational marijuana laws passed prevented the government from punishing marijuana use.  The ballots never asked “should citizens be forced to agree with recreational marijuana use?”  This new law uses government resources to punish disagreement for economic benefit.

The position statement from the American Psychiatric Association states marijuana use should be determined by experts using scientific evidence through the FDA not by the “ballot box.”  Contrary to Hollywood portrayal, marijuana is addictive.  Use has negative side effects.  It is strongly associated with psychiatric impairment.  Effects include heart attack risk, weakened immunity, lung disease, hallucinations, flashbacks, panic attacks, impaired mental functioning, reduced reaction time, impaired driving, depression, seizures, and hypertension.  Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson credited marijuana for creativity, and for psychiatric impairment. These are not merely stereotypes.

The original version of the legislation allowed EMT and firefighter screening.  The transportation industry successfully lobbied for exemption.  What about nurses with patients, road crew with heavy machinery, landscaping crew operating saws and lawnmowers, construction using nail guns and bull dozers, and assembly line workers operating equipment at high speeds?  Lawmakers are concerned about side effects on EMT performance.  Why should any employer be forced to deny side effect repercussions on any performance? Customer service and accounting tasks may be just as important to require screening.  Poor customer experience can destroy a small business. Scientifically, marijuana reduces processing time.  Why would anybody hire someone who uses marijuana to do tasks requiring high speed repetition or quick thinking?  Why would someone hire an individual they know is going to work slower than others?

We need to stop abusing legislation intended to protect real minority groups.  Abusing laws for political and economic gain threatens them. Every behavior has consequences. We cannot force people to ignore consequences, to ignore reality, by calling them stereotypes.  Placing the words, “rights” and “equality” next to something is great marketing.  It does not make it a protected group.  Allowing something is entirely different than forcing others to agree.

At least this behavioral “minority” received the vote in a democracy.  The pioneer of this strategy lost the vote. They similarly sidestepped biological evidence by abusing terms “stereotype” and “discrimination” to coopt government powers for indoctrination.

Alan Burke

 

Rogers A One Term Sheriff

Dear Editor,

The more time that passes, the more its clear that Sheriff Rogers is unfit and will be a one term sheriff.  I pray for Sheriff Rogers and hope he turns it around for all our sakes.

The fact that he does not support the ICE bill is well understood, criminals always look after other criminals. I get that people make mistakes but America is under attack at our borders, people flooding into our nation and the taxpayer is pushed to the limit.

I known liberals will say it’s America, well to the liberals I say take them into your house and you take care of them. The nation we all love can not bare the cost of illegals and if safety is important to Rogers then he will follow the law, God knows he does not live by it.

I am for people coming here legally like my parents did and so many others. The rule of law is when in Rome do as the Romans do, people need to follow our laws and not the other way around.  One more comment, does the Sheriff’s Office have a shaving policy because Rogers needs to shave and keep a better fit uniform on, try a razor and dry cleaners and this is free advice.

Sal Leone